Genesis 49:2 - Forerunner Commentary

Genesis 49:2

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may ^atell you what shall befall you ^bin the last days:

2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are ^amy firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you ^awent up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of¹ cruelty are in their dwelling place.

6 ^aLet not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united ^bto their assembly;
^cFor in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they¹ hamstrung an ox.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
^aI will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah,^a you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
^bYour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
^cYour father’s children shall bow down before you.

9 Judah is ^aa lion’s whe¹lp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^bHe bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

Library

<< Genesis 49:1

Genesis 49:3 >>

Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Genesis 49:2:

Genesis 49:2-7

So this is what would happen to the people of Israel, of the various tribes, thousands of years in the future. At least about 3,500 years into the future. By this time obviously they were not just individual sons of Jacob with their small families, but they were whole nations. And so he lists here what the characteristics of these particular nations, having grown from these tribes, would be like in the last days.

But God shows here in this prophecy that these particular tribes as they grow into nations will have certain characteristics. By that we have been able to perhaps identify these nations on the world scene today. We think Reuben is France and they have something about them, about this honor and excellency of dignity, the excellency of power. But they have been unstable and they have never been able to make that first rung of nations. And when they have it slipped back very quickly.

Simeon and Levi, we are not exactly sure where they are. Levi was scattered in Israel, but who knows where they are specifically. I have some guesses, I will not say them now, but they are known for being very cruel and warlike. Jacob says, I do not want to be part of their councils because that is just how they are there. You know, God made the Levites the butchers of Israel. How many sacrifices did they slaughter? It was a way to turn their cruelty and their harshness into a good channel.

Excerpted from The Doctrine of Israel (Part Three): A Cycle of Rebellion by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Essays

<< Genesis 49:1

Genesis 49:3 >>